research

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention awarded the Center on Brain Injury Research and Training (CBIRT) a 4-year, $2.2 million cooperative agreement to study an established Return to School (RTS) program for students with traumatic brain injury (TBI). The project is led by Ann Glang from CBIRT and Deanne Unruh from the College of Education. “This research is unique in that it allows us to...

During this 5-year project, the University of Oregon and the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Medical Center, in partnership with University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDDs) in Oregon and Ohio and other key stakeholders will develop and evaluate an intervention to reduce challenging behavior in young children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The...

Learn more about recently completed projects at CBIRT.

Adolescents ages 15-19 have a higher rate of traumatic brain injury (TBI) than any other age group. Recent research indicates that transition outcomes (post-secondary education completion, employment, independent living/community integration) are poor for this population and that students who receive special education services in high school do no better in these domains than those who do not. Despite the clear need to improve these outcomes, students with TBI rarely receive appropriate transition services, often because educators and transition personnel lack the knowledge and skills needed to tailor effective transition practices to this unique population.

Cognitive impairments, strongly linked to reduced independence and community integration, are one of the most debilitating consequences of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Systematically trained cognitive strategies—particularly problem-solving strategies—offer a consistent means of responding to the myriad, often unpredictable breakdowns resulting from these impairments. However, due to limited funding for rehabilitation services, persons with TBI rarely receive the training needed to learn and generalize such strategies to their everyday lives.

Life is stressful! When someone you love has a brain injury it can seem overwhelming. CBIRT has developed resources that go beyond increasing knowledge about brain injury. Our goal is to provide tools for family caregivers to build skills and learn strategies for positive interactions when a family member has brain injury.

Assistive technology for cognition (ATC) has tremendous potential to support increased independence in adults with cognitive impairments due to traumatic brain injury (TBI) by compensating for these impairments. However, the ATC literature cites lack of effective instruction as a barrier to successful, long-term use.